Part 3: Teaching Students About Disabilities Using The Book Out of My Mind

It is important for classrooms to be an environment where students can openly speak and learn about disabilities and what it means to be "differently-abled". If a student doesn't understand why a person may act, move, look, or learn differently, it can lead to mockery, pity, avoidance, and bullying. This is why I've carefully chosen texts over my many years of teaching that increase students' knowledge and understanding about disabilities. With knowledge comes awareness and acceptance!

The book out of my mind by Sharon M. Draper is the third text I use in my disability unit. It is the story of eleven year-old Melody who has spastic bilateral quadriplegia, also know as cerebral palsy. Melody is confined to a wheelchair. She cannot speak, feed herself, or use the bathroom alone.

Most people (her doctors, teachers, and classmates) think she cannot learn. They are wrong! Melody has a photographic memory. She knows more than anyone realizes, but she is unable to communicate just how much she understands until one special day. There are many twists and turns that follow. This book will make you cry and shout with anger.

Your students will never forget Melody and her resilience!

Not only is out of my mind by Sharon M. Draper a great book for teaching students about disabilities, but it can be used for a number of reading and writing activities! During my disability awareness unit I use out of my mind to introduce two reading objectives to my students:

1. Turning Point(s)

2. Protagonist vs. Antagonist

This is how I explain the concept of a turning point to my students:

A turning point is a defining moment within the story, and usually involves the main character. Turning points are the moments when the main character has an epiphany (realizes something of great importance) or learns something significant (for example, finding the clue that helps him or her solve the mystery), or when something very important is revealed. A turning point can be found in an intense or emotional part of the story, and/or one filled with action. Turning points can be part of a big scene in a novel that involves lots of characters, or they can happen in a smaller scene when the main character is alone or just thinking. Turning points help move a story forward. In most novels, by the end of the story the main character has changed in some way. It’s the turning points that contribute to the main character evolving.

This goes in my students’ journals:
Some turning points in novels:

• A change in the main character
• A revelation (the main character learns something)
• An epiphany (the main character realizes something)

This is an example of a turning point in the book (Chapter 15):

An example of a turning point in out of my mind by Sharon M. Draper is when Melody gets the Medi-Talker. This is a turning point because Melody’s life is changing. She can now “talk” to her parents and friends for the first time!

This is how I explain protagonist and antagonist to my students:

• The protagonist is the main or primary character in a book. She or he usually has a conflict with the antagonist.

• The antagonist is the opposing character to the main character. The antagonist causes conflict (or problems) for the protagonist.

The hint I give my students to remember the difference between the two is to think “pro=good.”

In out of my mind by Sharon M. Draper the protagonist is Melody, the main character in the book, and the antagonist is Claire. This book is unique in that an argument can be made that there are many antagonists, such as Melody's doctors, teachers, and classmates, who do not understand how intelligent she is and what she is capable of achieving.

If you want to learn more about my unit for teaching students about disabilities and acceptance, read Part 1 and Part 2. And stay tuned for details on how I use Rain Reign by Ann M. Martin in the classroom as part of my disability unit.